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Fauborg
Marigny
From erzulies.com
 The Faubourg
Marigny was founded by one of New Orleans' most colorful figures,
Bernard Xavier Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville, who in 1806
divided his plantation into lots. The fact that he later died
bankrupt may not have said much for his business sense, but he
clearly knew a great location. During the early half of the 19th
century, this neighborhood was home to the mixed race concubines and
families of wealthy white Creoles who lived in the French Quarter,
many of whose descendants remain in the city today. After the Civil
War, the Faubourg was called "Little Saxony" because of the great
number of Germans who settled there.
The Faubourg Marigny is the next neighborhood
downriver from the French Quarter, just on the other side of
Esplanade Avenue. Long a quiet residential neighbor to the
celebrated Vieux Carre, the area has exploded in recent years into a
vibrant destination for food, music and good times, with much of
this activity concentrated on Frenchmen Street. the heart of a
dense, historic neighborhood filled with distinctive architecture
and home to restaurants serving exotic food and Creole
favorites.
Visitors to Frenchmen Street won't see Mardi Gras
beads, frozen daiquiri stands or T-shirt shops; rather, the area
very much caters to locals. In fact, New Orleanians who haven't set
foot on Bourbon Street in years spend whole weekends romping around
Frenchmen Street, bar-hopping for live music or eating out along its
increasingly diverse restaurant row.
 Along Frenchmen Street proper, the diversity
and proximity of businesses in a three-block stretch creates a
highly energized and vividly colorful street scene. Walking down
just one block on a typical evening, for instance, you might
encounter a reggae band jamming; watch body art in progress; dodge
bicyclists peddling off on rented rides; spot a visiting movie star
or two or browse a selection of used books for sale from a street
vendor.
The streets of this part of town, following a sharp
curve in the nearby Mississippi River, branch out from the French
Quarter's orderly grid into triangular patterns that create
something like a labyrinth. Around each corner of this intriguing
neighborhood lies something else to discover, whether it's a Creole
mansion, an aromatic coffeehouse or a jazz band playing for a packed
dance floor at a small club.
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